12:1
The author now rounds off his teaching in chapter 11, before moving on to the next topic. His purpose in listing the various “heroes of faith” was to demonstrate that faith was what they were commended for, and they did so not having received what was promised. So there was a “great cloud of witnesses”, and this cloud was not presented so that the Hebrews could merely marvel at it, but to encourage them to act. There were two key actions they were to take. The first was to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles”. Hindrances need not be overtly sinful, but things that can become sinful if they hinder our walking in faith and obedience. In the case of the Hebrews it could be a hankering back to the trappings of the Law. “The sin” need not refer to a specific sin, but a general reference to sin. All sin can entangle us.
12:2
We now come to the positive response. We are to fix our eyes on Jesus. He is the “pioneer and perfecter of faith”. The primary purpose of Jesus’ coming to earth was to die for us on the cross, and Hebrews had emphasised the importance of that. However, He is also an example. Jesus showed us how to live. In the light of the persecution the Hebrews had suffered and may be about to continue to suffer, the author gives the specific example of Jesus “enduring the cross, scorning its shame”. Jesus did this, so the Hebrews should do the same. If the persecution was coming from the Jews (which often happened in the early church), it may have been tempting to go back to the Law, and their minds could have come up with all sorts of intellectual excuses for doing this. Jesus did not do this, He went to the cross with all that that entailed “for the joy set before Him”. And then He sat down at the “right hand of the throne of God”. This is a position of authority.
No comments:
Post a Comment